Develop Solid Study Skills
Succeed Beyond High School with Solid Study Habits
Along with all lessons you learn in the classroom, you can also learn good study habits—skills that will help you succeed after high school and lead to a strong work ethic. Consider the following pointers:
- Limit distractions while studying. Make sure your study space is quiet, comfortable, and free of distractions. . . this includes digital distractions. Try putting your phone in a different room and turning off your computer. If studying requires a computer, consider using a website blocker to limit notifications that can cause you to lose focus on the task at hand.
- Plan a homework schedule and stick to it. Is it helpful to write down a daily to-do list? Maybe you would rather keep a school planner? Perhaps reviewing a digital calendar is what you need. The key to staying on top of your work is figuring out a system that works best for you.
- Identify a support system. Enlist the help of friends and family to help you get ready for tests, complete homework, and even proofread your essays and reports.
- Learn by teaching. Talk out loud to better understand the content you are studying. Try teaching it to a family member or discussing the information with a fellow classmate. After all, Albert Einstein once said, “If you can’t explain it simply, you don’t understand it well enough.”
- Read the news regularly. Reading the news can help build your reading skills and your understanding of the world. Doing this can also help you apply the lessons you are learning in school to current events.
- Expand your vocabulary. A robust vocabulary can improve your reading, writing, and overall communication skills. There are plenty of websites and apps that can help you learn new words. Subscribe to “Word of the Day” from merriam-webster.com and challenge yourself to use it in a sentence. Bookmark thesaurus.com and open it when you are writing. Use these tools to find words that accurately deliver your message. (Remember, the goal is to be clear—not complicated. Avoid stuffing sentences with four-syllable words for no reason.)
